Laodicea is Evaluated – Part 2

“I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot, I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth” Rev 3:15, 16

We studied and examined the opening address of Christ?s letter to the Laodicean Church in ‘Laodicea Addressed.’ I ended with seven thought provoking, mind exercising questions as follows:
What is our problem as identified by the Faithful and True Witness?
1. What is it that we don?t know?
2. What is it that has deceived us?
3. What does Jesus mean when He says that our works are neither hot nor cold but lukewarm?
4. Does Jesus mean that we are not doing enough works?
I don’t think that is true. We are not lacking works, BUT our works have a problem .
5. What is wrong with our works?
6. Why is Christ?s spiritual evaluation of us negative?

Here are the two great principles ? love to God and love to our neighbour, upon these two principles hang all the Law and the prophets.
Those who fail in their fulfillment of these vital principles though they
– Profess a knowledge of the truth
– Preach the Word
– And understand ALL mysteries
Shall eat of the fruit of their own doings, and be filled with their own devices.

Those who cherish suspicion and imagine evil, reveal that they are NOT carrying out the principles of this Law, and they pursue a course which brings upon themselves the evils which they imagine:
God will not be trifled with. His Word is to be cherished and obeyed
18MR:2

Not all who profess to keep the Sabbath will be sealed. There are many, EVEN among those who teach the Truth to others who will not receive the seal of God in their foreheads.
1. They had the light of Truth
2. They knew their master?s will
3. They understood EVERY POINT OF OUR FAITH, BUT
They had NOT corresponding works. Maranatha p. 240.

These two verses (Rev 3:15 & 16) are the key to Christ;s entire message to Laodicea. They are its most important section, and if we want to understand what He is telling us in this letter, we must clearly understand what He is saying in these two verses. The reason they are so important is that these two verses are Christ?s evaluation of Laodicea?s spiritual condition. All the rest of His letter is based on that evaluation.

The Faithful and True Witness begins His evaluation of Laodicea by saying:
;I know thy works’ verse 15. What does He mean?

Jesus is not talking about our church activities. He is talking about our spiritual works collectively as well as our individual lives ‘ our behaviour, our actions. If our spiritual behaviour as a people is wrong, then our church works will naturally be affected also. They may be just a fair showing of the flesh. What does the True Witness say about our works? How does He evaluate them?

First, we need to recognize that Laodicea is not lacking in works. Christ makes that clear when He assures us, ‘I know thy works’ (verse 15). The issue is not that we don?t demonstrate enough works. We have plenty of works, but there is something wrong with them. What is the problem with our works?

According to the Faithful and True Witness, the problem with our works is that they are neither hot nor cold, but lukewarm. That is the evaluation He gives. Notice that Christ?s words allow for three kinds of works: hot works, cold works, and lukewarm works. What does Jesus mean by hot works? By cold works? By lukewarm works?

Remember that the book of Revelation is written in symbols that must be defined by the Word of God as a whole. If we look carefully at the New Testament, we will discover that it describes human spiritual behaviour ‘our works’ in three categories. These three types of works are works of the flesh, works of faith, and works of law. I believe these correspond to Christ’s reference to cold works, hot works and lukewarm works in His message to Laodicea. If we are going to understand what Jesus is saying, we need to understand what each of these kinds of works are and why He refers to them as He does.

I would suggest that when Jesus speaks of ?cold works?, He is referring to what the New Testament calls ‘works of the flesh’. Paul says, ‘I am carnal (fleshly), sold under sin’ (Romans 7:14). He means, ?I am a fallen, sinful man?. The New Testament consistently uses the word flesh in a spiritual sense to refer to our fallen, sinful natures. So works of the flesh are the sins we commit, our sinful behaviour. Paul clearly describes them: ‘Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these: Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envying, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like.’ (Galatians 5:19-21). If we were to describe the works of the flesh in one word, it would be sin!

Paul reinforces this point in Romans 7. He says, ‘I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) dwelleth no good thing, for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not ‘(verse 18). Paul is saying that his flesh, that is, his sinful nature, is incapable of doing good because of the sin that lives there. ‘I delight in the law of God after the inward man’, he continues, ‘but I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members (flesh)? So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.’ (verses 22,23,25). The apostle admits that left on his own, without the help of the Holy Spirit, all he can do is to acknowledge in his mind that God’s law is good, but in his flesh (sinful nature) he is a slave to sin. This is why Paul reminds the Christians in Rome, ‘There is none righteous, no not one’ There is none that doeth good, no not one? (Romans 3:10, 12)

That is why Paul declares, ‘The carnal (fleshly) mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.’ (Romans 8:7) In other words, the flesh can do nothing good. Jesus said to Nicodemus, ‘That which is born of the flesh is flesh.’ (John 3:6). The flesh is unchangeable. Jesus is telling Nicodemus, ‘Your foundation is all wrong. You are trying to do the will of God by the flesh. But the flesh will always remain sinful You need to be born from above; you need to have another power, the power of the Holy Spirit within you.’

Why should we identify ‘works of the flesh’ or sinful acts with the ‘cold works’ Jesus speaks about in His message to Laodicea?

In Matthew 24, Jesus is prophesying about conditions in the last days, the days in which you and I are living. He says, ‘Because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold’ (verse 12). Here, Jesus identifies the word cold with iniquity, or sinful acts.

Besides ‘works of the flesh’, the New Testament quite commonly uses a related term to describe sinful behaviour; it speaks of ‘works of darkness’ (Ephesians 5:11). In Bible lands, daytime and light are synonymous with heat; nighttime and darkness are identified with cold. God was a cloud to the Jews by day during the Exodus and a pillar of fire at night. By God’s grace, He kept the Israelites warm at night and protected them from heat in the daytime. Apart from God’s grace, the nights would have been unbearably cold. So works of darkness are the same as cold works. And both refer to sin, to works of the flesh.

What, then, are ‘hot works’? They must be the opposite of ‘cold works’. If cold works represent works of the flesh, what would be the opposite? Would it not be ‘works of faith’?

In Galatians chapter 5, Paul is contrasting the works of the flesh with the fruits of the Spirit. He says, ‘Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary the one to the other.’ (verses 16, 17). So the fruits of the Spirit are in opposition to the works of the flesh. And the fruits of the Spirit are the same as ?works of faith?. Jesus Himself makes this connection.

For example, Jesus said, ‘He that believeth on me (i.e. has faith in me), the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father’ (John 14:12). Now why would Jesus’ followers be able to do even greater works because He was returning to His Father? Jesus answered this question in one of His last recorded conversations with His disciples before His death.

‘If I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you, but if I depart, I will send him unto you? (John 16:7). In other words, ?If I don?t go to My Father, I will not be able to send you the Holy Spirit.’

When we walk by faith, the Holy Spirit who lives in us will produce in our lives the works of Christ ? works of faith. Works of faith always have their origin in the Holy Spirit. Faith says, ‘I am making myself available to you, Lord Jesus, because there is nothing good in me.?’ Works of faith are the result of Christ living in us by faith. Paul says, ‘I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me, and gave Himself for me.’ (Galatians 2:20).

How does Christ live in me?

Through the Holy Spirit. Paul says:

‘Ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. And if Christ be in you the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.’ (Romans 8:9, 10)

In works of faith, the Holy Spirit is actually the One doing the works; I am simply bearing fruit. When I look at works of faith from my perspective, they are not works; they are simply the fruit of the Holy Spirit, who is living in me.

Paul commends the believers at Thessalonica for their ‘work of faith’ (1 Thessalonians 1:3). He urges Titus to affirm in his churches that those who have faith in God should maintain good works (see Titus 3:8). And James deals with works of faith as evidence of justification. ‘Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar’ Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect’? (James 2:21, 22)

‘Works of faith’ and ‘the fruits of the Spirit’ are, therefore, synonymous. These are the ‘hot works’ Christ refers to in His letter to Laodicea.

We have seen, then, from the Scriptures that ‘cold works’ represent ‘works of the flesh’. ‘Hot works’ represent ‘works of faith’. What do ‘lukewarm works’ represent’ Lukewarm works represent a mixture of hot and cold works ‘ an attempt to mingle works of the flesh with works of faith. The Bible describes these as works of the law.

What does the Bible have to say about works of the law? A good starting point is Galatians 2:16, where Paul uses the phrase three times:

Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.

In the next chapter, Paul gives the reason why works of the law cannot justify us. As many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them. (Galatians 3:10).

What, exactly, does Paul mean by this phrase, works of the law? He defines it for us in Philippians 3:9. He says that he wants to be ‘in him (Jesus Christ), not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ.’ Righteousness that comes from works of the law is self-righteousness ‘ a righteousness that is produced by self. Works of the law represent a self-righteousness produced through one’s own efforts. We have a word for that in English; we call it legalism. The Greek language in the New Testament times did not have a single word that was equivalent to what we mean in English by the term legalism. So Paul used the expression ‘works of the law’ to express the same idea. Whenever you come across the phrase ‘works of the law’ in Paul’s writings, you can substitute the word legalism and you will have the right idea. It refers to our efforts to keep the law as a means or method of salvation.

We have said that the cold works Jesus speaks about in His letter to Laodicea represents works of the flesh, or sin. We said that hot works represent works of faith, the fruit that is produced in our lives by the power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus, however, says that He knows Laodicea’s works and that they are neither hot nor cold, but lukewarm. I believe that these lukewarm works represent works of the law ‘ a legalistic self-righteousness that attempts to obey the law as a means of salvation. Let’s see why this is so.

When a person goes about to establish his or her own righteousness through obedience to the law, who is doing the works ‘ the Spirit or the flesh’ Obviously, it is not the Holy Spirit at work. It is the individual self. So the flesh is the source of the works that are being done. However, the works themselves resemble the same works as the Holy Spirit produces by faith in the life of the Christian. Outwardly, it may well be hard to tell the difference. For example, two individuals may both be visiting the sick. One is doing so as a result of his own attempt to obey the law and thereby deserve salvation. The visible actions may look the same, but the source and motivation of the action are quite different. In other words, the flesh that belongs to sin, cold works is doing outwardly the things that actually belong to the Spirit and faith (hot works). In this sense, works of the law are lukewarm works ? a legalistic mixture of cold and hot, of the flesh imitating the Spirit.

You remember the young man who came to Jesus asking, ‘What good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life’? (Matthew 19:16) Jesus replied, ?If you want to go to heaven by doing something good, you must keep the law.?
And the young man asked, ‘Which law? What specifically do You mean’?

‘The six commandments that refer to our relationship with each other,’ Jesus answered.
What did the young man say next? ‘I’ve kept all these things since I was in the primary division of Sabbath School.’ (verses 17 ? 20)

The works this young man had been doing all his life were works of the law. ‘Works of the law’ is the flesh trying to be good. So the works themselves look a lot like the works of faith. For example: Does a person whose life is filled with works of faith keep the Sabbath? Certainly, he does. Does the person whose life is filled with works of the law keep the Sabbath? Of course. What is the difference? The difference may not be apparent outwardly. When we find a person keeping the Sabbath, the question is not: ‘Are you keeping the right day’? The question is: ‘Are you keeping the Sabbath based on works of faith or on works of law’? That’s the important question.

So the difference between works of faith (hot works) and works of law (lukewarm works) is the motivation behind them, the reason for doing what we do. The acts themselves may be quite similar outwardly.

On the other hand, works of the law and works of the flesh are altogether different; the contrast between them is quite clear. Both originate from the flesh, but they are extreme opposites. The works of the flesh (cold works) are sinful acts ‘ adultery, hatred, lying, etc. The works of the law (lukewarm works) are righteous acts ‘ on the surface. That is why they are lukewarm ‘ because the flesh is pretending to do the work of the Spirit. The cold is mixing itself with the hot. Works of law look good on the outside and therefore are very deceiving. It is very difficult to convince a self-righteous person that his outwardly good acts are all wrong.

Ellen White identifies Laodicea’s problem in these same terms and agrees with the idea that lukewarmness is self-righteousness. She says, ‘Your self-righteousness is nauseating to the Lord Jesus Christ? These words (Revelation 3:15 – 18) apply to the churches and to many of those in positions of trust in the work of God.’ (The Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, 7:963)

So, what is Laodicea’s main problem? Self-righteousness.

Jesus told a parable about a king who invited a great number of guests to his son’s wedding feast. He provided special garments for each guest to wear to the banquet. But one man refused to wear the garment and attended in his own clothes. He was clothed in his own self-righteousness. ‘My suit is clean’, he told the king, ‘I don’t need your garment.’ Ellen White comments on this parable, ‘Self-righteousness is not the wedding garment. A failure to follow the clear light of truth is our fearful danger. The message to the Laodicean church reveals our condition as a people.’ (Review and Herald, 15 December 1904).

She also gives this insight into Christ’s opinion of our self-righteousness:
‘There are those who profess to serve God, while they rely upon their own efforts to obey His law, to form a right character, and secure salvation, Their hearts are not moved by any deep sense of the love of Christ, but they seek to perform the duties of the Christian life as that which God requires of them in order to gain heaven. Such a religion is worth nothing.’ (Steps to Christ, 44).

Lukewarmness, a legalistic self-righteousness, is altogether worthless in the eyes of Jesus. In fact, in His message to Laodicea, the Faithful Witness makes a shocking statement. ‘I would rather you were cold than lukewarm,’ He says (Revelation 3:15).

Does this mean that Jesus would prefer we actually go out and do sinful things, works of the flesh, rather than be lukewarm and try to do good things for the wrong reasons’ Apparently so. Why would He say such a thing’

Once, Jesus told the self-righteous Pharisees that it would fare better with Nineveh in the judgment than it would with Israel (Matthew 12:41). When Jonah preached to the people of Nineveh that unless they repented they would be destroyed because of their wickedness (works of the flesh), they responded positively and repented before God. Nineveh?s problem was open sin ‘ the wicked works of the flesh ‘ and they knew it. It wasn’t difficult for God to convince them of their sinful condition.

But when God told the Israelites that their works of the law were all wrong, they felt insulted and rejected Him. They were blind to their condition because the works they were doing looked so good on the outside. These works came from the flesh, but they looked so good! We will find that Laodicea has the very same problem. Laodicea is blind to her true condition because her lukewarm works look so good on the outside.

Her legalistic self-righteousness.

One of the hardest things for us to do is to recognize our true condition. As long as we don’t understand what we are really like, then the Faithful and True Witness?s counsel is meaningless to us. Once we recognize our condition, we are well on our way to the solution.

You see, a doctor must first find out what is wrong with the patient before he can give him the correct medicine. Does the True Witness know what is wrong with us? The answer is obvious. Can He heal us’ Most certainly; He is the Great Physician. But before a doctor can perform an operation on you, he or she must obtain a signed surgical permission ‘ at least in Australia. Likewise, before Jesus can cure us, He must get our permission to take out our hearts of stone and replace them with hearts of flesh. The moment we give Him permission, the cure is available. But we must first recognize our need, we must admit that His evaluation of our condition is accurate. We must admit that our problem is self-righteousness, which looks so good on the outside but is so nauseating to Christ.

But why does God object so to self-righteousness? Although it has its shortcomings, isn’t self-righteousness better than no righteousness at all? Isn’t it better to be lukewarm than to be cold? If your child is trying his best to please you, does that make you angry or happy? Naturally, it makes you happy. Yet here is a church that is trying its best to please God, and God is sick about it! Why? The answer is crucial. Why does Jesus say He would prefer Laodicea was cold than lukewarm? (part 3 next month)

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